The present invention relates generally to safety restraint systems and more particularly to a five-point safety restraint system suitable for use with safety seats and particular with an integrated or stand alone child seat.
There presently exist any number of restraint systems for child safety seats of the integrated or stand alone type. These systems operate adequately to protect the child but are rather complicated to use especially as an adult tries to place the restraint system about the child and simultaneously tries to hold the child securely in place on the seat. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a system in which an adult need only use one hand to secure a restraint system about a seated child. A further object of the present invention is to provide a system that safely secures a child to the seat. An additional object of the present invention is to provide a 5-point easy to use restraint system.
Accordingly, the present invention comprises: a five point restraint system comprising: a harness means for securing an occupant, such as a child, to an occupant seat comprising: a first and a second belt, each of the first and second belts including first and second ends, and a shield plate slidably receiving each of the first and the second belts, each of the first ends of the belts fixedly secured relative to the occupant seat defining a first and a second restraint point, the shield plate including first and second openings through which the first and second belts are through threaded, the shield plate includes first lock means for lockingly engaging with second lock means positioned on the seat defining a third restraint point, the shield plate and belts extendable over the occupant's head and shoulder and the belts engagable with the occupant's shoulders, the belt portions extending toward the first ends engagable against the outside of the lower torso of the seated occupant; belt tightening means for receiving the second ends of the belts, defining a fourth and a fifth restraints point, wherein upon engagement of the first lock means to the second lock means a five point restraint systems is achieved. As can be seen the child is restrained at five points, that is, the buckled shield provides a restraint in between the legs of the child, the belts extending over the childs lower torso or legs provide two other restraint points and the belts engaging the childs shoulder provide the last two restraint points.
Many other objects and purposes of the invention will be clear from the following detailed description of the drawings.